He's in his fourth season at Kentucky, where the Wildcats are the defending national champion.

Kentucky smashed Marshall University on Saturday, 82-54, but the Thundering Herd made a favorable impression on someone who knows.

"Marshall is going to do fine," Calipari said. "Their guard (Dre Kane) being hurt really affects them, but they're going to be fine. They get into Conference USA, and they're going to be one of those teams playing for that NCAA (tournament) bid.

"No question in my mind."

THE HERD: Marshall (7-6) sits in the bottom half of the C-USA standings with two non-conference games left before beginning league play.

Kane's recovery from an injury to his right (shooting) hand is important. The preseason all-conference selection has missed three games, but could return in time for the first conference game Jan. 9 against Tulsa. He's a Top 10 scorer in the league with a 15.0 average and the leader in assists with 8.5 per game.

Marshall has a lot of moving parts because of injuries and working new players into the system. Not playing again until Jan. 2 will give head coach Tom Herrion time to sort some things out.

Herd newcomer D.D. Scarver, a junior shooting guard, is tied with Kane for 10th in the conference with 15 points a game Scarver leads the league in 3-point baskets per game (2.69) and is eighth in free throw shooting (81.8 percent).

THE CONFERENCE: Current C-USA standings have an unusual look with Houston, Tulane and East Carolina at the top along with Memphis, UCF, SMU and Southern Miss.

Houston's 9-2 start was built against the nation's weakest schedule according to the CBSSports.com RPI report.

TaShawn Thomas, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward for the Cougars is an early candidate for conference player of the year. Thomas averages 17.6 points while leading C-USA in rebounding (10.6) and blocked shots (2.36).

East Carolina (7-3) and Houston are tied for first in C-USA scoring (78.4), but the Pirates are giving up 67.5 points a game (10th).

All-conference senior point guard Miguel Paul was suspended for the first two game of the season for a violation of team rules, but has come on to average 11.5 points and 4.3 assists in the last eight games.

Senior forward Maurice Kemp is among the league leaders in scoring (17.5) and junior forward Robert Sampson averages 9.4 rebounds.

Preseason favorite Memphis lost its first really big game of the season against fourth-ranked Louisville (87-78) and sits at 7-3.

The Tigers have nobody listed in the Top 20 for conference scoring, but good balance has them averaging 73.8 a game.

Junior guard Joe Jackson leads at 12.3 points a game.

Geron Johnson, a 6-3 junior college transfer was a nice addition. Johnson has averaged 11.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in seven games since serving an NCAA three-game suspension for receiving extra benefits prior to his enrollment.

A pair of sophomore holdovers from last season, 6-7 forward Jalen Jones and 6-4 guard Ryan Manuel, are scoring 15.2 and 12.5 respectively. Jones is also getting 8.6 rebounds.

SMU is the league's best free throw shooting team at 74.9 percent.

Southern Miss (8-4) looks ready to go after its second consecutive NCAA tournament berth. Ex-Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall picked up right where former Golden Eagles head coach Larry Eustachy left off.

Senior forward Jonathan Mills, a 6-5, 240-pound member of last season's All-CUSA Defensive Team, is getting 9.8 points and 7.2 rebounds a game while 5-11 junior Neil Watson, an all-conference second team selection, scores 7.9 a game.

Danny Manning is off to a 7-5 start at Tulsa in his first head coaching gig. The former Kansas All-American was part of Larry Brown's national championship team.

Tulsa, a team with seven newcomers among 11 scholarship players, hosts the C-USA tournament in March at the BOK Center.

James Woodard, a 6-4 guard, is making a bid for C-USA Freshman of the Year honors with 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. Sophomore forward Rashad Smith averaged 14.5 points in four games before injuring his left foot. Smith might return for the conference season.

UTEP is next-to-last in conference scoring (63.5), but fifth in scoring defense (64.0) and that equates to a 6-5 record.

Konner Tucker, a 6-4 graduate transfer who led Sam Houston State in scoring last season (12.0), leads the Miners with 15.0 points per game.

Jerod Haase is 6-6 in his head coaching debut at UAB. Haase was a longtime Roy Williams assistant at North Carolina and Kansas. He also played for Williams at Kansas.

Jordan Swing is a consistent scorer for the Blazers with a 15.4 average. The 6-6 junior is a wing player who is shooting 47.5 percent on 3-pointers (28 of 59). Rod Rucker, a 6-5 junior college transfer, averages 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Rice head coach Ben Braun reloaded after an exodus of six players from last season's team that won 19 games and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals. Most notable among the losses was all-conference forward Arsalan Kazemi who transferred to Oregon.

The Owls are 3-8 with offensive production of 59.5 points a game and a defensive yield of 66.5 points.

Senior guard Tamir Jackson, a 1,000-point career scorer, has been carrying the load with averages of 18.0 points and 6.9 rebounds. Sophomore Julian DeBose is next at 9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds.

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